family far away

just received a photo of practically all my relatives (my dad's parents, brothers and sisters, and their children) in the States, from a cruise they took on the occasion of my grandparents' wedding anniversary.
weird. some of them, i don't even know. it's really strange how families have evolved. these people who i'm bound by blood, some of them, i wouldn't even know if i bumped into them on the street (IF they ever made it all the way here, or even more improbable, i made it all the way there). whereas there are people here, who i'm not connected to by blood, but by invisible, but stronger bonds.
but it still gives me a sense of... affinity, i guess. and it's interesting to see people i haven't seen in pictures for a while. how my ninong has taken on a "bohemian look", how my tito now has white hair, how my lolo is looking dapper as ever, how my lola is looking healthy, how my ninang is looking happy, how my debutante cousin looks a lot like my sister, how my older cousin looks so grown-up and no longer lanky, how my younger cousins all look so tall. and how i'm missing having cousins and titos and titas here.